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Great post, Angeline. Your list is excellent. “putting things off is way easier than doing things” is very true. A lack of ideas isn’t my problem. Too many ideas and not know which to choose is. That, too, leads to procrastination. Self-discipline. You’re absolutely right.

For me it depends on the WIP. Shorter stuff drives me to finish. It is like climbing a shorter hill on my bike. I know the downhill sprint is just over the crest of the hill and it drives me to get there. If the climb is miles, or if I know the payoff is not as impressive, It becomes harder to push through with the same intensity.

Longer works feel much like longer climbs. It is not possible to always write with that same intensity and focus. The way I keep going is by making myself work every day for the first twenty or so, really push out words (good ones, I hope). When there are pages and pages behind me, the pages in front aren’t as daunting. It doesn’t always work, but it works well enough.

I agree, without some type of plan, life “gets in the way” and things fall apart. Life stuff comes up–family emergencies, sickness, the car stops working. But that stuff is never going to pause because you have project to do. That’s the biggest thing I’ve learned, is to set realistic goals and know when and how to adjust them so the work still gets done.

Right now, I’m doing better with maintaining momentum on my blog than on my fiction projects. And I do better with the first draft than with revision. I seem to be motivated by measurable progress. Which means my momentum takes a dive if I finish a project and don’t have something else to move on to.

I used to be exactly the same. I never finished anything to a publication standard because I’d move onto the next exciting first draft rather than slog through editing. But I’ve actually found a way to really enjoy that part of the process now.

So. The thing about momentum, that mass (m) is a measure of inertia. So. If something big stays still, it’s REALLY difficult to make it move. That said, if it’s moving, it’s almost impossible to stop.

With that kind of thinking, I’ve come to realize that it’s easier to keep going than to stop and then try to start again. Sadly, I did stop recently, which means I’ve been having to work much harder just to get going again.

Basically, I start with small changes that I make bigger once I sense movement. 🙂